Only Pretend
by Actual-Robot
Summary: Really AU, somewhere in season 3. Giles and Buffy find a fairy; however, the small creature is more than just what she seems. When the fairy is suddenly transformed into a human, the watcher and slayer have no choice to protect her. She is a dark wizard's experiment. His goal is to create the perfect warriors. Better than it sounds. I am bad at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

*Author's note- I don't know how this idea came to me. This is not a series I tend to dabble in, let alone actually watch. Either way, it called to me and now I have to write it. Also, I made a cool ass cover. Obviously it is very AU…somewhere in season three…. Also the characters will be slightly out of character…Wow. Die-hard fans, I will apologize now for this. Well enough of this- here is

 **Chapter 1**

It was a relief to everyone that Oz was not the one who had done the killings. It amazed Giles how mature the teenagers remained during the whole incident. He felt proud of the youngsters, especially Willow, who was able to stay by Oz's side, even when all odds pointed to him. Not many teenagers…not many adults would have been able to do that. However, even though he was impressed, it also troubled him. Not the situation, but that these children have grow up quicker than their surrounding peers. This was the time that one should be free. Be free to go out. Be free to do what they want. Be free to be careless. Nevertheless, there was no room for childish antics when it came to saving the world.

Giles thinks about how he was when he was there age. Yes, he wasn't the most prestigious young man…okay, he made rather poor decision, but they were his decisions. He was able to act defiantly in his juvenile age, without the fear that it could destroy mankind. Buffy couldn't do that. She was gone for a few months and the slaying had gone to hell, leaving the other kids no choice, but to pitch in. Her leaving was harder than any of them were able to admit.

It shouldn't be that way.

"Giles," Buffy asks, while sitting down in front of the tombstone, which he is perched upon, "I'm bored."

"Bored?" he looks down at her, "yes, well, it does seem to be a rather uneventful night."

Buffy lets out a humph as she leans back, placing her hands on the dirt behind her, "I'm seriously jonesing for a little brainless fun. We should play a game."

"I…I don't think so," Giles frowns more at himself than the young girl's suggestion. There once was a time where Rupert Giles did not stutter. He didn't know where it came from. It wasn't that he was not confident in himself or flustered or…If only Ripper could see him now. He taps his stake against his leg, following the pattern of a heart beat, "We mustn't be distracted if a vampire does decide to make its presence."

"Let's play eye spy," Buffy smiles, "That way we can play and watch out for those Creechy Faces."

"Fine," Giles replies, stopping the motion of the stake, and looking out into the graveyard, "I spy, with my little eye, something red."

Buffy looks out, squinting her eyes in the process, waiting for anything red to jump out of her. It doesn't take long before an 'ooh' escapes her mouth, as she points to a grave with fresh flowers, "It's those roses over there!"

"Indeed," Giles begins to tap the stake again. It's rare to have a quiet night. Usually when the nights were dull, it meant something bad was brewing elsewhere. He didn't want to think about what kind of monster was preparing havoc. If they were lucky it would be a monster in the soulless category.

"Alright," Buffy announces, starting her turn, "I spy, with my little eye, something yellow?"

Something yellow? Was it even possible to see something that shade during this time of night. It was past midnight and the only glow came from the streetlights. However, for the sake of the game, he looks around. Unfortunately, he comes up short, "Buffy, I don't see anything yellow."

"Do you want another hint?"

"Might as well," Giles picks up the pace of the tapping, seemingly going unnoticed by the young girl. He couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly. But something felt wrong. It wasn't the time. It wasn't the company. It was, however, too quite. Eerily quiet. Irritatingly quiet.

"I spy, with mu little eye, something yellow and not solid," Buffy says, interrupting the silence.

"Not solid?" Giles questions, his eyes searching for the closest streetlight. He turns around and spots one, "It is the light over there?"

"Nope," Buffy replies cheerfully, "But you are getting warmer."

Giles looks out into the dark open space ahead and behind. He was getting frustrated by this simple child's game. Nothing yellow popped out. Maybe Buffy needed to get her eyes checked. It would not be safe if her vision began failing. Giles groans, as he ceases the tapping of the stake, "There is nothing else yellow."

"Yes, there is," Buffy replies, standing up, and point to the left of where the roses sat, "It's the flickering light over there."

Giles followed her gaze, but still nothing yellow stood out to him. Buffy notices the confusion playing on his features, as he squints his eyes, lowers his eyebrows, and straightens his lips into a tight line. She then grabs at his arm, pulling him up, "Come on."

Together, they head towards what Buffy believed to be a flickering, yellow light. The closer they get, the brighter it appears for the slayer. Suddenly the reach it and Giles can finally see the dime light. Out of all of the abnormal they have witnessed, this would definitely one of the strangest. He remembers seeing a light like this once before, but it couldn't be. These creatures were native in the UK. It has been unheard of to have sightings in the States. Both of them lean on their knees, trying to get a better look.

"Giles," Buffy picks up the small creature, "is this a fairy?"

"It can't be," he replies more to his own thoughts than to the young girl.

"Oh come on," she smoothes down the creature's short blonde hair, looking upon it as if it were one of her childhood dolls, "If vampires and demons can exist, why can't fairies?"

"They exist," Giles replies, his disgust suddenly becoming apparent, "They are thieving, conniving, awful creatures. They've only been reported to live in the Europe. It shouldn't be here."

"Oh, poor baby," Buffy starts to coo over the little monster, "She had to fly so far. No wonder she is passed out."

Then Giles notices it. One of the fairy's wings is ripped. The damn thing was brought here. He places the stake in his coat pocket, then pulls off his glasses to clean them. With a sigh he places them back on and alerts Buffy of the fairy's situation. The creature wouldn't last much longer with only having one wing.

"We should take her home," Buffy replies, a frown forming on her mug.

"I think it would be better if we put her out of her misery."

The young slayers gasps, "That's awful. We have to take care of her. She is so tiny and defenseless. I promise I will take really good care of her."

"Buffy, she isn't a doll or a puppy," Giles eyes the small creature, ready to rip its other wing off, "She's an evil wrapped in a tiny package. A bloody mini demon."

"There is no way," Buffy replies, turning away from her watcher. She ends the conversation there, walking back towards the exit of the graveyard. Giles jogs over to her to catch up with her fast pace, calling out for her to wait.

"What?" She finally answers him, turning around in the process, with the fairy still being held gingerly in her hand.

"Let me take the thing back to my place," Giles knows he will regret saying this, but if she kept it, he knows there would be a fight in the Summers' house, "If it is anything like the ones I encountered in England, then when it wakes up, it will create such a chaos in your house, that your mother will disown you for bringing it in."

Buffy looks down at the creature in her hands, "Really?"

"Yes," At that, Buffy hands it to Giles. He holds the thing in one hand looking down on it with a frown. It really did look like a broken doll. The thing had short blonde hair, wore a purple tiny dress, and tiny vines wrapping around her arms and legs. This creature could easily deceive anyone who didn't know better. While growing up in London, he witnessed many children taking fairies into their homes, only to have their prized possessions stolen. He had once allowed a wounded fairy into his home. Luckily, he had caught the brat before it had taken off with his mother's ring. If it weren't for Buffy, he would have crushed the thing with a rock.

"Please, Giles," the slayer says, breaking him out of his thoughts, "don't kill her."

"I will not harm the demon," he replies, loosening his grip on the creature, which he didn't realize had tightened. The reach his car and he drive the slayer home. Before Buffy gets out, she turns to her Watcher, "I'll come over tomorrow to check on her. I promised I will take care of her."

He gives her an okay and drives back home. Before getting out, he takes a look at the creature that lies in a cup holder. It is resting in a very uncomfortable position. If it does wake up, maybe it would be too sore to attempt anything, he thinks hopefully. Carefully, he picks the thing up, carries it inside, and into the kitchen, picking up a couch pillow in the process. He lays the thing down on top of the pillow on top of the counter. Giles refuses to let the thing out of his view. So he makes his tea, staring at the creature, daring it to move.

Giles looks down for a second to pour the hot water into a cup. With the twinkling of a bell, he abruptly puts the kettle down and turns towards the beast. The little fairy now sits up, its little arms stretching above its head. Her eyes open, the well known violet color making itself apparent. All fairies had violet eyes…one of their many charms. The little thing smiles up at Giles, making him frown once more this night.

"Move from that pillow," he warns the creature, "and I will kill you on the spot."

The monster lets out at tiny laugh, its eyes still glued on the watcher. Giles rolls his eyes- Buffy would not have stood a chance against this monster. Turning away from the thing, he resumes making his tea.

Suddenly he hears another chime, causing him to turn back to the creature. She is smiling once more and pointing to his cup. He lowers his eyebrows in confusion. In response, she points to his cup, but with more vigor.

"What do you want with my tea?" He questions it. In response she makes a drinking motion by pacing one hand down like a saucer and the other as if she were holding a cup. Then it clicks, "You want some tea?"

It nods its head eagerly causing more bells. This was going to get annoying fast. He lets out a sigh, "I don't have any tiny cups."

The thing, however, continues to point at his cup. The creature was definitely British, he decides. Only a British monster would take tea over causing destruction. He places his cup down and starts to look for something small. His eyes roam around the room, when he notices an empty water bottle. He takes of the cap and then slowly pours some of his tea into it. Hesitantly, he hands the tea filled cap to the little thing. It takes it and sips happily. Giles groans, wishing the thing would fall back asleep.

The creature and Giles finish their tea in silence. This was not how he wanted his night to go. He turns his head to the monster and sees that the cap had fallen from its hands- the fallen tea splashed on the pillow. Well, he got his wish. He picks the pillow up and brings it upstairs to his room. If it did wake back up, he would hear the fairy chime, before it had a chance to take or break anything.

Giles finished up his night with a shower and went to bed. He gives the monster, whose pillow rested on his left bedside table, one last look. The thing was still passed out. Slowly, his eyes close and he falls into a dreamless sleep.

His thumbed tailed along something that was soft as silk. He pulled whatever was in his arms closer. So soft…

Abruptly, Giles opens his eyes. He swallows hard and quickly pulls away his arm as if he had been bunt. In his once empty bed, now lays a very real, very beautiful, very naked young woman. He quickly jumps out of bed, his eyes going to the pillow on the table. No longer was there a passed out fairy. His stomach drops. This couldn't be happening.

Giles looks at the sleeping woman once more. Her short blonde hair fell slightly over her pale round face. He knew if she were to open her eyes, it would be the familiar violet, he had grown to hate. How was this possible?

Quickly, he makes up his mind and runs downstairs. He grabs his phone and calls the only number he knows by heart, Buffy's. It rings a few times, before she answers, "Hello?"

"Buffy," Giles says, "It's..the fairy…I…Please come."

"Giles?"

"Come please. As quick as you can," he thinks about the woman upstairs, "And bring extra clothes… just…hurry."

"The fairy?" He didn't know how much of his words were getting to Buffy. He looks over at his clock and notices it is only four in the moring.

"Yes," Gile's replies, slightly calmer, "Issue with the fairy. Come as quick as you can and bring extra clothes."

"Okay," Buffy mumbles, before hanging up. Giles begins to pace. What the bloody hell just happened? This did not happen. This was not happening. He looks up the stairs. This was not happening. This was not happening. This was not happening.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The doorbell finally chimes around four thirty, causing Giles to jump up from his resting position on his couch. He opens the door to a very confused Buffy, holding a pink tote bag at her side. He lets her in and quickly closes the door behind her, before leaning against it with his arms crossed.

"What's going on, Watcher-mine?" Buffy inquires with a yawn, bringing her free hand up to cover it, "I. Was. Asleep."

"I…She…" Giles attempts to explain himself, his eyes wandering to the stairs, which led to the stranger in his bed.

"The fairy?" Buffy adds, hoping to draw him out of his stutter.

"Yes," he replies quickly, his eyes meeting hers, "She's not."

"A fairy?"

"Exactly," He replies, his arms falling to his sides. Buffy stares at him for a long second, no doubt in Giles' mind that she believes him to be insane. He quickly attempts to correct himself, "Sh… She is big…and hhhuman."

Buffy crosses her arms, mimicking his earlier stance, "Have you been drinking or something?"

"No," He hastily replies, her words sobering up his train of thought, "There has to be some kind of sorcery or…the fairy is not…"

"I'm not what?" a bell-like English accented voice calls from the stairs, causing both of the other occupants to sharply turn their gaze towards the intruder. Quickly Giles cheeks become inflamed, when he see's that the once fairy now sported his button-up shirt he had been wearing earlier, with the hem reaching the middle of her thighs. The woman smiles at them, her white teeth shining bright.

"See," is all Giles says before turning back to his slayer.

"Yup," Buffy replies, before walking up to the ex-fairy and sticking her hand out, "Hi, I'm Buffy."

The woman repeats Buffy's action, "Nice to meet you Buffy- I'm Adali, but you can call me Addi."

"Well, Addi," Buffy pulls her bag off her shoulder and hands it to the woman, "I brought some spare clothes. You're welcome to them. Then, you should probably explain what happened, before Giles reaches Denial Land."

Adali nods her head before retreating back upstairs. As she does so, Giles and Buffy make their way to the couch. Giles sits down with a huff, then brings his hands to his face, while resting his elbows on his knees.

"Hey, chill," Buffy places a hands on his shoulder, "Stop being so freaksome, Giles."

He picks his head up but doesn't look at her. Slowly he settles into a more comfortable position, leaning into the corner of the couch, his arms crossing once more, "I'm allowed to be 'feaksome,' Buffy."

At that they hear the prancing of feet coming down the stairs. They both turn to see Adali, with the glowing smile on her face, wearing a pair of Buffy's yoga pants and (still) Giles' shirt. He can feel his cheeks reddening again. Why, oh why, did he not smash the fairy when he had the chance?

"The shirt didn't fit," Adali explains, as she sits down on the floor across from them, folding her legs up underneath her.

"No biggie," Buffy replies, her attention solely focused on the young woman, who's eyes still resembled the fairy violet. Giles eyes rake over the girl, matching all of the other fairy signs to her. Her nose still resembled the pixie shape, being small and slightly pointed. Her face still clear from any blemish, but still a slight sparkle glowed from her skin. And up and down the visible part of her arms is a slight green tent that waved around her skin in swirls- which he assumes was dye from the vines. Giles's eyes finally meet back to hers, and frown when he sees the amusement dance in the purple orbs.

"Thank you both for saving me," Adali begins, "I would have surely died if it weren't for you."

"You're welcome," Buffy replies as Giles lets out another huff.

"So, explaining," Adali continues, holding her fingers out, as they dance with her words, "There was this man. Bald and rather tall… well every one is tall when you're small. He stuck needles in us. Trying to change us. It worked a few times on the others, but they would quickly die. And last night, I was able to escape… That was all rather vague, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Buffy looks at Adali with her eyes wide, "What do you mean, by "change us."

"To be honest," Adali smiles again, "I'm not even sure. He wrote everything in these journals. I'm assuming making us fae, but those have been extinct for quite some time."

Giles nods his head before finally speaking up, "Well, he seems to have succeeded on your part."

"I doubt it," Adali replies sharply, "This has happened a dozen or so times, but I always shrink. It's better than dying though."

"I wouldn't agree with that, "Giles replies, and quickly adding on before his words are questioned, "But why a fae? Those are just as troublesome as fairies, but twice the size. Only a mad man would want to bring those back."

"I agree," Adali replies looking down at her hands, "Faes are monsters. Being a fairy, I only have enough room for one emotion at a time, but as a fae…They know what they are doing. I would take being pint sized over that any day."

"You're seriously justifying fairies over faes?" Giles examines, his frown becoming more present.

"Of course," Adali looks up at him, her smile replaced with a matching frown, "Not all of us are 'bloody mini demons.'"

Giles is taken back by Adali shoving his own pervious words back at him, but replies with a simple, "Agree to disagree."

"Um, no," Adali looks at him, a smirk slowly appearing as she raises her eyebrows, "Not all fairies are thieves. Just the stupid ones who get kicked out of their clan and need human items to sell. I am no thief. Nor am I a demon."

"Well, then," Buffy quickly interjects before an all out brawl began, "Clearly we must find this guy who is harming these fairies and stop him."

"If we must," Giles replies, turning towards his slayer.

"Of course it's a must," Buffy says finally standing up, "We are the Slayer and Watcher, we fight bad guys, and this is definitely a bad guy."

At that Buffy begins to walk away, heading towards the door, she turns around to the pair, before she leaves, "This is settled Giles, we are going to help Adali. Now I'm going to go back to bed. You guys discuss whatever you need to about whatever, but no fighting. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Giles replies.

"Oh, I have a friend named Crystal," Adali pipes up, just as the front door opens and closes. Giles sharply turns back to her. The glowing smile is back and he would want nothing more than to make it disappear.

"You shouldn't scowl so much, you know," she says, "You'll get lines on your face."

"I don't care," Giles replies as he gets up. He makes his way over to the linen closet and pulls out a blanket and pillow.

"You should," Adali calls out to him, "It will mess up your handsome face. Then again maybe it would make you look more distinguished. That's also rather attractive."

Giles ignores her comment and lies the pillow down at the end of the sofa.

"What are you doing?" Adali asks, standing up.

"Making my bed," he replies, "It's rather late, you should go back upstairs and return to bed as well."

"No, upstairs is your bed," Adali replies, grasping as much of his right forearm as she can in her tiny hands, "Come on."

Giles stares at her in disbelief, "No, tonight and for the foreseeable future it is yours. Now go up and let me go back to sleep."

Adali drops her hands and sighs out, before making her way back to the stairs. She turns off the living room light, before placing her foot a step up. Giles lies down, pulling the blanket over himself. Slowly he closes his eyes.

"I'm not tired," he hears Adali call out, from the bottom of the stairs.

"I don't care," he growls out, forcefully turning to his side.

"It's about five thirty now, I'll make breakfast," her hears her say as her foot steps become closer once more.

"If you so dare as take a step in that kitchen, I will not be responsible for my actions," Giles replies, squeezing his eyes harder, willing himself to enter dream world once more.

"Ooh," he hears the bell-like voice reply as weight is suddenly placed at the end of the couch by his feet, "What kind of actions?"

"Like murder."

"That's not very nice," Hell, even her laugh sounds like a bell…bloody annoying, "Is your name really Giles? That's a rather odd name."

"It's Rupert," he replies, giving up against the fight he wasn't going to win, and sits up, "Giles is my last name."

"Ru," Adali smiles, "I like that much better."


End file.
